Dems get boost in Senate

Riding to victory with Barack Obama, Senate Democrats tightened their grip on the chamber, gaining at least five seats and making inroads in the once Republican-dominated South and Rocky Mountain West.

The AP called the race for Coleman Wednesday morning, then retracted that call in a rare reversal. Coleman leads Franken by 762 votes out of over 2.9 million cast. Coleman and Franken each have 42.0 percent of the vote; independent candidate Dean Barkley finished with 15 percent. A recount could last into December, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State office.

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A recount is almost certain, and three races remain too close to call.

With more than 95 percent of the vote counted, Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens was clinging to a narrow lead despite his recent felony convictions. In Georgia, Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss held a substantial lead over Democrat Jim Martin, but it wasn’t clear whether Chambliss could clear 50 percent and thereby avoid a December runoff. And in Oregon, Republican Sen. Gordon Smith was two percentage points ahead of Democrat Jeff Merkley with three-fourths of the votes in.

Two famous Republican names, Dole and Sununu, were early casualties, while a new Democratic generation of Udalls rose again in the West, winning seats in New Mexico and Colorado.

Driving the vote most was the newest name of all, Obama. By energizing the black vote and broadening the political battlefield, the new president-elect took a big step toward breaking down the red state-blue state mindset that he has consistently challenged since bursting on the national scene.

Obama won not just the White House but hugely important leverage to move the legislation he wants. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell narrowly survived in Kentucky, but the crafty parliamentarian will have fewer tools to work with next year when Obama takes office.

Democrats have labored through this Congress with just 51 votes, counting two independents who meet with their caucus. But with at least five more seats, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is far better positioned now to build coalitions with moderate Republicans like Maine Sen. Susan Collins to get to 60 votes.

Collins handily survived her own challenge Tuesday, and together with her fellow Maine Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe, could provide two potential votes for Obama on many domestic issues.

The defeated incumbents include North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a Cabinet secretary for two presidents in the ‘80s and the wife of former Senate Republican Leader Robert Dole, who never quite found her footing in Congress. In New Hampshire, the younger, more activist Sen. John Sununu went down as well, losing to former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, whom he had defeated in 2002. And hours later on the West Coast, Republican Sen. Gordon Smith appeared doomed in Oregon.

In equal measure, Democrats built their gains on retirements in Republican ranks. In Virginia, for example, voters swapped Warners, picking former Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, to replace Republican Sen. John Warner, a famously courtly figure who is retiring after 30 years in the chamber. The Udall cousins, Reps. Tom and Mark Udall, won in New Mexico and Colorado respectively, where Republican Sens. Pete Domenici and Wayne Allard are retiring.

Tuesday’s voting came precisely six years—or one term—after the Republican Senate gains in the often 2002 elections and dramatized how the world has changed since then.